The Canadiens selected Tomas Plekanec in the third round (71st overall) at the 2001 NHL Draft in Sunrise, Fla. — two weeks after current teammate Victor Mete celebrated his third birthday.

The Canadiens had two first-round picks that year, selecting defenceman Mike Komisarek seventh overall and taking forward Alexander Perezhogin with the 25th pick. In the second round, the Canadiens took forward Duncan Milroy 37th overall.

Plekanec spoke no English when the Canadiens drafted him and was coming off a season in which he posted 9-9-18 totals in 47 games with Kladno in the Czech Republic. He has turned out to be a fantastic pick by the Canadiens, who are often criticized for their lack of success at the draft.

On Saturday, Plekanec will suit up for his 964th game with the Canadiens when the Boston Bruins visit the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690). Only eight men have played more games with the Canadiens: Henri Richard (1,256), Larry Robinson (1,202), Bob Gainey (1,160), Jean Béliveau (1,125), Claude Provost (1,005), Andrei Markov (990), Maurice Richard (978) and Yvan Cournoyer (968). Plekanec recently passed Guy Lafleur, who ranks 10th with 961 games in bleu-blanc-rouge.

If it was up to Plekanec, he would play many more games with the Canadiens, but this could be his final season in Montreal. The 35-year-old is in the last season of a two-year, US$12-million contract and could be very attractive to other teams ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 26. Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin will certainly be listening to offers with Plekanec eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

While some Canadiens fans might look at Plekanec’s $6-million salary-cap hit, along with his four goals and 16 points in 42 games, and figure he’s finished, other NHL general managers will see a veteran, two-way centre who can still play an important role — especially in the playoffs. The Canadiens’ chances of making the playoffs are very slim with an 18-20-4 record.

Plekanec’s offensive numbers are not what you’d expect from a $6-million man, but he is plus-3 on a bad Canadiens team while facing the opposition’s No. 1 line every game. He’s also winning 53.4 per cent of his faceoffs. If Plekanec does end up leaving Montreal it might be a case of Canadiens fans not really appreciating what they have until it’s gone — just like when veteran defenceman Markov left for the KHL last summer as a free agent after being unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with Bergevin.

Plekanec is very soft-spoken, so it’s hard to hear him if you’re at the back of a media scrum in the locker room. But after practice Friday in Brossard, with most of the media focused on Carey Price and Mete, Plekanec was available to chat one-on-one.

“I don’t know what kind of interest there will be in me,” Plekanec said when the trade deadline was mentioned. “My goal is to play in Montreal and that’s never changed. I’ve always wanted to play here as long as I could. What’s going to happen, it’s really out of my hands.

“There are a lot of players around the league who don’t want to play here for certain reasons, but I never found any reason not to play here,” he added. “I’ve always enjoyed coming to the Bell Centre and playing in front of the fans. You know it’s always going to be packed and there’s always going to be passion for the game and I’ve loved that since I was a kid and nothing has changed about that now when I’m older.”

Plekanec is not worth his $6-million cap hit, but he can still play. On Saturday night, he will face the challenge of shutting down the Bruins’ No. 1 line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Plekanec understands some fans will look at his contract and not be happy with his offensive production.

“I’ve been here so long that I understand that part,” Plekanec said in his soft voice. “Obviously, it’s frustrating but there’s nothing you can do. As a player, you just do your best for your team and your teammates and do what you’re asked to do the best way you can. Obviously, I’d love to be a 60-point guy, but sometimes you have to sacrifice a lot of things instead of only looking at points and do the little things right to help the team and that’s the way it’s been the last couple of years.”

One of Plekanec’s biggest fans is Brendan Gallagher, his regular linemate who leads the Canadiens in scoring with 16-7-23 totals. Any time you ask Gallagher about his success this season, he will talk about and praise Plekanec.

The Canadiens have 40 games left this season and Plekanec is 37 short of becoming only sixth player in franchise history to play 1,000 games in bleu-blanc-rouge after Markov missed the mark by 10 games.

When asked if he wants to finish his career in Montreal, Plekanec said: “I’d love to. Definitely.”

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